Choo, Tribe take heated slugfest

Published : 2012-04-15 17:59
Updated : 2012-04-15 17:59

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) ― Choo Shin-soo sat at his locker in the Indians clubhouse, the bruise on the outside of his right knee just larger than a baseball and turning every shade of red and blue imaginable.

“It’s nothing,” he said with a smile.

Driving in the winning runs must have made the pain go away in a hurry.

After getting hit by a pitch early in the game, Choo delivered a two-out double in the 10th inning Saturday night that sent Cleveland to an 11-9 victory over Kansas City ― despite blowing a seven-run lead in a testy affair marked by three ejections and a pair of bench-clearings.

“What a crazy kind of emotional game,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, who was among those thrown out during an eventful third inning. “Just glad we came out on top.”

Light-hitting Yuniesky Betancourt helped force extras when he homered in the eighth inning for the Royals, completing their bit-by-bit comeback from a 9-2 hole.

With two outs in the 10th, Choo pounded a pitch from Greg Holland (0-1) to center field that Jarrod Dyson tracked down at the wall. He appeared to have the ball in his glove before it popped loose, and Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley came around with the go-ahead runs.

Jairo Asencio (1-1) earned his first major league win by pitching a clean ninth inning, while Chris Perez set the Royals down in order for his second save of the season.

“Always you try to win games,” Choo said, “but especially tonight.”

Choo was plunked by Jonathan Sanchez in the third inning, sending both teams streaming onto the infield. Sanchez and Choo have some history: The left-hander broke Choo’s thumb last season by hitting him with a pitch. Choo wound up on the disabled list for nearly two months.

“I know it’s not on purpose. The catcher set up inside,” Choo said. “But I still have the memory from last year. Maybe I was a little sensitive.”

Darvish leads Rangers

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― Yu Darvish knows it’s going to take time to adjust to major league hitters.

Nothing like a couple of bases-loaded situations to speed that process along.

Darvish kept wriggling out of trouble in five-plus innings, Josh Hamilton homered among his three hits and the Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Saturday.

“He was much better,” said Rangers manager Ron Washington when asked to compare Darvish on Saturday to his first outing on April 10. “Still have to work on getting ahead of hitters quicker. But he was much better today with his command.”

Adrian Beltre drove in two runs and put Texas ahead with a single in the seventh that scored Brandon Snyder, who had a career-high three hits.

The Rangers won their third straight and for the sixth time in seven games.

Denard Span led the Twins with three hits and an RBI double that tied the game at 2 in the sixth.

But the Twins failed to score with the bases loaded on three occasions, and lost for the sixth time in their first eight games.